Rs33b supplementary budget for K-P approved

Cabinet okays Rs1,726m for quake-hit schools

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa cabinet has approved an extra Rs33 billion as supplementary budget grant to various sectors by enhancing their sectoral allocations in the Annual Development Program 2024-25.

The extra funds are allocated to high priority and due-for-completion projects with the aim to boost up the High Impact Projects.

In its 29th meeting, held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, the cabinet also approved a supplementary grant of Rs1726.100 million for two ADP schemes to ensure completion of all the 760 earthquake-affected units (schools) in the province.

The earthquake of 8th October, 2005 had caused large-scale destruction of infrastructure, including 3,700 education institutes, mostly in four districts of Hazara Division and one district of Malakand Division (Shangla).

The meeting was attended by Cabinet members, Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretaries, Senior Member Board of Revenue, Administrative Secretaries, and Advocate General.

The cabinet also approved the expansion of 'Ehsaas Hunar Program' to Rs3,050 million. Under this scheme, interest-fee loans will be provided to youth with technical and vocational skills for self-employment.

The cabinet further approved the Gazette Notification of Gallies in Abbottabad and Bashkar Garam Chashma in Chitral as Biosphere Reserves under Section 30 of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife and Biodiversity Act, 2015.

These two sites were added to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves on June 14, 2023 by UNESCO.

The two reserves were designated to fulfill international commitments under the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami program, which aims to promote afforestation, restore degraded lands and forests, protect wildlife and expand Pakistan's biosphere.

Similarly, the cabinet also approved amendments to Rules 10 and 11 of the West Pakistan Notaries Rules, 1965, increasing the fees for appointment, area extension, renewal, and issuance of duplicates.

Originally set in 1965 at Rs100, Rs50, Rs25, and Rs5, respectively, these fees have now been revised to Rs20,000 for appointment, Rs10,000 for area extension, Rs10,000 for renewal, and Rs2,000 for duplicates.

Furthermore, a sum of Rs14.5 million was approved as a Development Support Grant for FATA University, which has been operational since 2016 in a section of Government Degree College, Dara Adam Khel. The university currently enrolls around 1,100 students across various disciplines, with most of them coming from remote areas.

The cabinet accorded approval to the release of Rs500 million to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Deserving Artists Endowment Fund.